Montgomery County Community College program to help displaced workers

WHITPAIN — As part of a $20 million grant from the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College Career Training through the U.S. Department of Labor distributed to all 14 community colleges in Pennsylvania, Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) received $1,198,165 which has been used to develop new programs areas showing a rise in industry demand and employment.

The grant was distributed by the U.S. Department of Labor as a way to ensure that higher learning institutions are able to offer an expedited educational process for displaced workers who may be looking to join a different labor field.

“We have had programs in the past funded through the Department of Labor,” explained Suzanne Holloman, the dean of workforce development and continuing education for MCCC. “Those grants were directly to Montgomery County Community College. This grant is unique as it was a consortium grant given to all of the community colleges in Pennsylvania.”

Because the grant money was given to all 14 community colleges in the state, the schools worked together to decide how to best focus their efforts and determined to spotlight three targeted industries: health care technology, advanced manufacturing, and green energy.

Once the schools decided on what fields to focus on, the individual schools formed the curriculum of programs in those areas after speaking to a number of businesses in those fields and figuring out how to shape the curriculum of the programs to best serve the students and increase the likelihood of employment upon completion.

“Part of what we have done with each of these programs, and will continue to do, is we have met with employers to ensure that the curriculum is built to their needs,” said Holloman. “We have met with over 20 employers one-on-one for feedback of our curriculum and then we had a group meeting with those employers.”

Following the feedback from employers, MCCC launched its first new program, Health Technology Specialist, in time for the current fall semester, with the remaining five programs to begin in January.

In addition to the new programs that the school will begin to offer, all participants will receive a “career coach” who will serve as something of a mentor for these students, which is something new for the colleges to undertake, according to Holloman.

“It is a new concept,” she said. “All of the community colleges have hired career coaches to help students with their progress.”

The career coaches, which the grant will also fund, will help those participating in the program in a variety of ways, including providing assistance for obtaining any support services that are required, such as tutoring, and following the completion of the courses, assistance will be provided in setting up job interviews.

“We will contact the employers for the opportunity to interview for jobs,” Holloman explained.

With the emphasis placed on industries that are currently in high demand and by offering programs specifically designed to educate and train participants in the field, the hope is that the turn-around from the completion of the program to employment will be incredibly brief and, based on the feedback from potential employers, Holloman believes that will be the case.

“The employers have told us, ‘We will have growth. We do have job openings,’” she said.

More information on Montgomery County Community College and the programs that it offers can be found on its website.